After adopting a “Player Rest Policy” back in 2017 to reduce instances of teams keeping healthy players away from games – particularly nationally televised games and away contests – the NBA pre-modified those rules of the 2023/24 season and introduced a new set of guidelines known as Conditions of Participation for Players.
The stated goal of the policy is to promote player participation over the course of the NBA's 82-game regular season. It specifically focuses on players who are considered “stars,” defined in the policy as players who made it to an All-Star in one of the three previous seasons (or during the current season once the All-Star Game has taken place). -Star team or an All-NBA team is past).
Unless a team has an approved reason for a star player not to participate in a game, that team will be deemed to be in possible violation of the Player Attendance Policy in the following scenarios:
- When a team rests a star player in a nationally televised game or an in-season tournament game (NBA Cup).
- When a team rests more than one star in the same game.
- When a team repeatedly rests a star in away games rather than home games (teams must maintain a balance between missing a game away or at home, with rest days preferred in home games).
- When a team takes a healthy star out of action for an extended period of time (e.g. when a tank team stops playing a star when their star players are down).
- When a star who is rested is not on the bench and visible to the fans.
An automatic NBA investigation is initiated when a star player who is not injured misses a nationally televised or NBA Cup game, or when multiple uninjured star players miss the same game. An investigation will also be initiated if a player, agent or team representative – such as the general manager or head coach – makes a statement that conflicts with the player's listing on the injury report.
The league may also initiate an investigation in other cases at its sole discretion. For example, if a star player is consistently kept away from away games instead of home games or begins to play a “significantly reduced role,” the NBA could investigate the matter.
A team found to be in violation of the Player Participation Policy will be subject to a fine. The amount of these fines is:
- First offense: $100,000
- Second offense: $250,000
- Subsequent violations: $1 million more than the previous penalty (i.e. $1.25 million for the third violation, $2.25 million for the fourth violation, etc.)
If the Star Player has a legitimate reason for being out of action, the team will not be penalized for violating the Player Involvement Policy. Of course, injuries are the most common reason players miss games, but there are other exceptions the NBA allows.
For example, a team is permitted to keep a star player out of a game in each of its consecutive sets because of his age (for a player who is 35 or older as of opening night) or his job workload (for a player who has played either more than 34,000 minutes). in the regular season and playoffs or has played in 1,000 games in the regular season and playoffs) or injury history (evaluated by the league on a case-by-case basis).
If either game in a consecutive set is nationally televised or is an NBA Cup game, a player who receives league approval to sit out either end of the consecutive set must participate in that game. If both games meet these criteria or neither game does, it doesn't matter which game the player misses.
Additionally, if a team has two stars who have been cleared to sit out one end consecutively, they cannot both miss the same game – one star must appear in the first game while the other plays in the second game.
Under the player participation policy, the NBA allows a star player to be kept away from a game for personal reasons, such as the birth of a child or a death in the family, or in “rare and unusual circumstances” that must be approved by the league office. The league also grants teams some leeway at the end of the season. For example, a star player might be rested for the final game of the regular season if his team has already secured a certain playoff spot.
A team may be investigated for a possible violation of the NBA's player participation policy and end up being fined for another violation. This came as the league was reviewing the Sixers' decision to sit Joel Embiid for a nationally televised game shortly before the start of the 2024-25 season.
Although the team insisted that Embiid had suffered no setbacks after competing in the Olympics, the NBA determined that the big man had a legitimate knee injury and fined Philadelphia $100,000 for inconsistent statements about Embiid's health that misrepresented his condition.
The NBA is advising teams to “err on the side of over-communication” with the league office to ensure they comply with player involvement guidelines. This means they will contact the league in advance to explain a star player's potential absence, rather than waiting until after the NBA has opened an investigation.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary Entry. Our glossary posts explain specific rules related to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement. Information from ESPN's Bobby Marks was used to confirm details in this post.
